Anti-incumbent sentiment

The front page of WashingtonPost.com is pushing a rather irritating meme:

The Fix: Attorney Joe Miller's lead over Sen. Lisa Murkowski in GOP Senate race reveals depth of anti-incumbent sentiment.

Oh please. This isn't about ousting incumbents, it's about getting rid of members of the establishment that are not committed to limited government. A quick look at the three members of the Senate (including Murkowski) who have been ousted thus far this year:

Sen. Arlen Specter (D-PA): A member of the Senate for 30 years, Specter was a Democrat who switched to the Republican party in 1965, then switched back to the Democrats last year in an effort to stave off a primary challenge from Pat Toomey, a former congressman who resigned his leadership position at the Club for Growth to enter the race. Specter was rated dead last by the Club for Growth on his economic voting record and was projected to be handily defeated by Toomey. Instead he was soundly beaten by Joe Sestak in the Democratic primary.

Sen. Robert Bennett (R-UT): Bennet has been in the Senate for 18 years, and has received a middling 27% ranking from the Club for Growth and an overall ranking of 45, placing him behind eight Democrats. This, mind you, as an elected representative of one of the most conservative states in the country. Bennett was also co-sponsor of the Wyden-Bennett health care reform legislation which -- while perhaps not as bad as ObamaCare -- would still have greatly expanded the government's role in the health care sector. Adios.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK): Hailing from another state which routinely elects Republicans to federal office (Democratic Sen. Mark Begich benefitted from the accusations of ethics violations against his predecessor, the late Sen. Ted Stevens), Murkowski is the ultimate insider, literally appointed to her Senate seat in 2002 by her father, Frank Murkowski, who had just vacated the seat in order to assume the Alaska governorship. Her rating from the Club for Growth was 41%, which while not horrible relative to the rest of the Senate, falls well behind other Senators from similarly conservative states (both of Wyoming's senators, for example, are rated around 73%).

It's not incumbents that have been targeted, it's the status quo establishment.